It was only the next day that the two women found themselves in Tina's room having breakfast. With Monika having got rid of much of her own kitchen area and chucked out the table for a full layout of a building and tinkering station for her electronics and other tools and gadgets, she thus had always had to eat on the sofa or in the base's cafeteria. Frost had followed somewhat in her footsteps with the requisition of a heavy-duty desk in her room to allocate space for her tools and traps to, but that was all. So, for the second day in a row now, Tina had just allowed Monika to come into her room to have cereal at the table with.
"Feel like you'll get any missions today?" Monika questioned, making Tina click her eyes up from the bowl of cereal before looking back to her act of pouring milk in the bowl.
"No." Came her simple response, putting the milk down and now looking solidly at IQ. "It is usual for a military unit to allow their comrades to socialise as well as train together. Besides, the more experienced operators will go out first to undoubtedly pick back up the slack of missions having been paused. Then, newer arrivals will get a chance."
The taller blonde nodded at Frost's summarisation, but then held up an index finger straight up from its flat position on the table to accentuate her interjection. "Ah." She let out. "But that's not how Team Rainbow works, remember? It's where operators are selected based upon who's the best fit given their abilities and expertise, as well as who's requested - not necessarily who works best with one another. With the sheer range of operators on this base, you can't just make them all cooperate."
Tina gave a grunt, before nodding. "True." She merely responded with.
Just as IQ was about to pose another question, her phone buzzed. Drifting her eyes over to the mobile device, she saw the top half of the screen shade in a navy blue, emboldened words filling it of new orders for her as an operator.
"Sorry, Tina, looks like I've been summoned." Monika informed her as she continued reading the text displayed, before hitting the acceptance button on the shaded box. "The director wants to give me a solo briefing."
Tina looked intrigued at the utilisation of the new software before her, then shrugging. "Sounds exciting." She remarked as she looked to the phone herself for a few seconds, and then going back to her bowl of cereal. "Looks like your own little, short-term mission where you get to lead a contingent of authorities, if I had to hazard a guess."
"Likely." Monika remarked, quickly finishing off her own breakfast in under a minute before then standing up.
"Don't worry about it." Tina commented as she flicked her eyes up to see her friend beginning to grab the bowl, stopping her in her tracks. "I'll worry about all this stuff here. You worry about your new mission."
"OK." Monika stated, before grabbing her jacket and moving off to the door. The operators on the base were allowed a lot more freedoms than any other solider, the creators of the military unit having kept in mind that this would allow the potential of the operators with their inventions would thus be kept free; but this meant that a lot more was expected of them. One such thing was that when discipline mattered among the freedoms they were granted, it accounted for a lot - and meeting the director of their base promptly was certainly such a thing. "Thank you, Tina!"
"Good luck." The Canadian shot back as she watched the blonde go out the door, before flicking her eyes back to the bowl as the door slammed.
DIRECTOR'S OFFICE.
"Lieutenant Weiss, thank you for coming so promptly." Aurelia Arnot greeted, the stern woman seated at her desk had a professional tone yet one that contained undercurrents of friendliness as she saw one of her experienced operators.
"Reporting, ma'am." Monika spoke as she saluted her superior, before then becoming at ease at Aurelia's acknowledging gesture.
"I'd like to be able to talk to each of my operators privately, especially after recruiting so many new faces, and it is a delight to talk to one of my operators who's been with us since the beginning. I would like to thank you sincerely, Lieutenant." Arnot announced with a sincere tone, but then continued before IQ could acknowledge it. "But I'm afraid that a rather urgent mission has come up, one that a woman of your particular attributes suits perfectly. I am officially assigning you a short-term, three day operation, Lieutenant."
"Yes ma'am." Monika nodded to the director of Team Rainbow.
"Your mission is in Germany, Miss Weiss. I'm sending you as you will have good knowledge on German procedure as a part of GSG9 like your comrades, and a mission lasting three days isn't enough for any reasonable experience to be gained by other operators on said procedure." Arnot informed her. "I'm sending you specifically, Lieutenant, because of the context of the mission - a context that your abilities are especially good for."
"Urban sweeping and cleaning, ma'am?" IQ asked, using the unofficial name of 'detection duties' in house clearing.
"Exactly, Miss Weiss." The director confirmed, before sliding a sheath of paper contained in a flimsy plastic, binding layer across her desk to face the operator in front of her. "The German authorities want a special forces attachment to an armed police contingent that's set to storm a drug hideout found in the city of Cologne in West Germany. They want the experience of a special forces agent, somebody who can take point and minimise any potential casualties. Given your particular abilities, I volunteered your services to them as it perfectly suited the mission, and as Team Rainbow is in need of more notoriety given our recent expansion; I am beginning to volunteer operator's services than just wait for requests."
"I see, ma'am." Monika responded, eyes just regarding her superior as the briefing went on.
"This gang in particular is responsible for a large amount of drug distribution in Cologne and the surrounding areas, making up a large amount of drug trafficking that extends to the entire country. Taking down this one hideout could give the lead German police desperately need to dismantle the entire operation." Aurelia explained as she laced her hands together onto the desk, looking seriously into the eyes of the GSG9 operator. "You'll find all the relevant material in the folder before you. They want the operation executed tomorrow, before any of the people on the gang's payrolls can warn them of it."
IQ eyed the plastic binder before her, picking it up and then beginning to read through it, still at ease as she merely preoccupied herself with the folder's contents whilst awaiting her superior to speak again. Aurelia sensed that, and moved things along. "Did you have any questions, Lieutenant?"
Hesitating slightly, Monika then just nodded. "I just wandered why exactly me, ma'am. Not when operator Dominic also from GSG9 also is specialised in house clearing duties."
Arnot merely looked to Monika at the question she had posed. "You've read some of that mission briefing, right, Lieutenant?" Aurelia sounded out in a curious tone, making the German nod. "Then you'll have remembered that traps and tricks are underlined in bold within the briefing, and that operator Blitz's specialist abilities do not include such factors?"
IQ gave an even more hesitant nod, a part of her still pushing forth with her curiosity still. "But, ma'am, I still-"
Aurelia just shook her head at the operator, and interrupted her. "Since you are a member of the German military yourself, Miss Weiss, they had no problem in accepting my choice for an expert in detecting traps. Besides, you are perhaps our best expert for detection and sweeping duties." Arnot stated out as praise, though her voice never wavered from its serious tone as she did so. "First of all, your invention is the only device on this base so far specialised entirely for such a role as detection and early warning, and another is that Miss Lin Tsang's report from the training simulation you two completed this week contains the excellent capabilities of your device based on her own experience and your performance with reduced fallibility 'than normal' during a more casual exercise. Coming from Canada's prime expert on trap ambushes, that's high praise indeed Miss Weiss."
Monika widened her eyes slightly at what her superior had called her friend. "She's Canada's top operator in-"
Aurelia cut her off as she sensed where it was going, not afraid to interject to make herself perfectly understood. "Yes, one of Canada's absolute best in ambushes in general, as well as the top recognised in trapping for the country - possibly the planet. Don't take her words lightly, Lieutenant, she knows what she's talking about." The blonde woman's lack of sociable factors sometimes was well known across the military unit from those that had ever cared to talk with her. "But that is besides the point for now. You've been selected for this mission, Lieutenant, and I expect you to complete it to a good standard given how it's perhaps even beneath your own. All that's left to do is to listen to any further requests or questions you may have." The way Aurelia was intently looking to her, it seemed that she was expecting such a thing.
The GSG9 operator had picked back up the ream of papers detailing the outline and context of her short-term assigned mission a second time, reading the first document before merely lowering the papers as her superior finished. She didn't even hesitate as she already had a request in mind. "Yes ma'am, I'd like to request that I take along operator Tina Lin Tsang on this mission."
It was to some surprise to IQ that the director before her did not seem surprised at all, not even inquiring for any context as to how the requested operator could fit the mission in her mind but rather a question of a more personal nature. "You and Tina have become good friends ever since JTF2 joined the list of international institutes in this unit, haven't you Miss Weiss?" Arnot asked aloud as her serious complexion now slackened somewhat into a more curious expression.
A couple of seconds passed as Monika merely nodded to confirm it, before doing so audibly. "Yes ma'am." She stated. "We're neighbours."
Taking that information in, Aurelia flipped the topic once more. "And what do you think of the fact that she's a new operator?" She questioned, now voicing the bigger inquiry that would impact the mission itself. "As capable as she is, she hasn't yet been introduced to Team Rainbow's standard equipment loadouts, nor met a lot of her other comrades or been briefed upon utilised strategies and coalition protocols with foreign military agencies."
IQ frowned in thought, before standing up straighter to defend her request. "With all due respect, ma'am, you yourself praised her abilities. She's a captain in a special forces branch of her country, she can act professionally and adapt to any situation." She spoke with conviction in her voice. "As for anything she doesn't know, I can fill her in on any necessary procedures or how to utilise unknown equipment. Given her expertise in trapping, she is familiar with using a wide variety of tools and equipment."
The gaze between them was held for a moment, before Aurelia returned the nod. "Good." She responded, the only audible token of satisfaction she gave the operator before her that she was now actually beginning a serious attempt to repair the red flags in her psychological profile. Besides, every operator having been brought onto the base were some of the most capable military personnel on the planet - allowing them time to acclimatise, train or otherwise wasn't strictly necessary for professionals like them. "Then your request is granted."
The administrative power of the director's position was displayed perfectly as she merely pulled out a form, filled in the details of transference and reassignment in under twenty seconds and then signed her name on the document. "Give that piece of paper to Miss Lin Tsang and fill her in on the details of your mission - despite her higher rank of Captain, you are still in charge of this mission. Both of you should be in the logistical waiting room at 6:00 AM tomorrow to await transport." Arnot then concluded, finishing up her speech. "Now if there isn't anything else, then you're dismissed operator. Good luck."
TINA'S ROOM.
Three soft knocks sounded at the door, making Tina within her room pause what she was doing at the heavy-duty desk she had set up within the accommodation. Shifting her gaze from the second generation welcome mat she was building and tinkering with, she eyed the door as she elected not to move, instead calling out. "Who's there?"
"Tina, it's me, Monika." A feminine tone filtered through the door, making a curious glint enter the Canadian's eyes as she wondered what the taller woman wanted with her - it had only been half an hour since she had been summoned for a mission. Too little time to have received a briefing and then gone about preparing for such a mission before then possibly coming to say goodbye to her as a friend, unless she had of course misunderstood the GSG9 operator's list of priorities. "I've got something to tell you."
Surely intrigued now, Tina put down the screwdriver she was holding and got up from the desk to open the door. Sure enough, her friend stood in the door, and Monika had already put on her tactical set-up, wearing the bulletproof vest as well as having twin holsters hanging on each side of her hips with her customised P12s nestled in each. Showing to Frost that she had almost finished preparing for whatever mission she had, barring going to places like the armoury for logistical supplies such as ammunition.
"What did you need to tell me, Monika?" Frost questioned as she stood in the opened door opposite the taller woman in the doorway.
"Well, I may have requested for you to join me on this mission that I've been selected for..." Monika trailed off with a mischievous twinkle in her eye and a wide grin on her face, receiving just the reaction she knew she'd get as Tina's eyes immediately narrowed at the spoken sentence. "See? Already approved!" The permission form was thrust into Tina's hands, who carefully read how she had no choice but to go flying across the continent with approved movement papers to Germany based on nought more than someone else's request.
A scrutinising gaze met her own eyes, the masked expression giving none of Tina's thoughts away as she instead poised a question. "You roped me into a mission without even asking me first?"
Monika merely responded with a small eye-smile and a thumbs up. "Yep!" She stated with a cheery voice. The scathing tone in her friend's voice didn't hold her down at all, given she'd got used to it's sarcastic employments and the fact that her friend had only meant it once.
Tina's gaze held for a solid few seconds, before she rolled her eyes, confirming the German's suspicions that she hadn't really cared about being suddenly involved like this. She was finally beginning to understand the Canadian's mannerisms unlike Frost who had seen through her own within the first half hour of meeting one another, and her understanding had led her to the fact that Frost just didn't care. The JTF2 operator had warmed up to her, and she readily agreed to spend time with the GSG9 operator - she just seemed comfortable in letting the blonde woman take the initiative, which she was fine in doing.
It was truly a reflection of her character. Allowing others to initiate the situation, at which point she would decide what to do - whether in combat in the midst of an ambush, or in a social setting. It wasn't that she couldn't think for herself, but it was just what she was comfortable with.
"Come in whilst I pack for this surprise mission then." Tina informed her as she opened the door wider, stepping to the side to allow Monika to step through.
However, IQ remained where she was in the doorway, instead putting on a playful smirk as she folded her arms. "Oh, and what about my own preparations?" She voiced aloud.
The look Frost gave her showed that she wasn't impressed by the joking attempt, remaining where she was as she just dryly spat out the facts. "You've already done a lot of your own preparations if you've got your weapons on you." She stated, an insipid look entering her eyes to accentuate her tone. "Besides, you still need to properly tell me what it's all about. Come in and do so."
With a clear laugh, Monika stepped into the room and closed the door with a quick slam of her back boot against the door, her friend already having made her way to the workbench in the room. From where she'd just been wearing a black sports shirt over the top of her usual camouflage trousers, she scooped the military tunic from the back of her work chair and put it on. It was then a simple matter of kicking out a couple of boxes from underneath the workbench, flipping open the lid and revealing the weapons and equipment within it.
The tactical webbing was slung around her torso first of all, a dark green set of straps and pouches that contained the majority of Frost's equipment, including her first aid kit and the empty magazine pouches that would only be filled at the armoury. Opening a second box, Monika saw it was filled with nought but trapping supplies like uncompromising, tensile wire and a few trigger devices, as well as her friend's notorious welcome mats. Putting quite a few of the supplies into the pouches of the webbing, the GSG9 operator saw it was a matter of familiarity to the trapper as the woman merely flicked up the folded mat and slotted it in between her back and the webbing. She managed to fit five of them in there this time.
Strapping a pistol holster to her right thigh, she pulled out what was known as the 'MK1', a 9mm handgun that made up for in firepower what it lacked in ammunition capacity and range, having only a short barrel even for a pistol. Sliding it into the holster, it was then a matter of clipping a sling onto the shotgun and shoving that across her back to hang slanted upwards from the right shoulder.
"Ready to go to the armoury." Frost's voice rang out as she stood up straight, neutral eyes regarding her blonde friend over the lip of the mask that hid well over two thirds of her neck and face. That was the beautiful thing of carrying webbing - they didn't need a backpack, given how they kept all essentials on their own person at all times. If they did need a proper set of meals instead of the ration bars they carried, it would be given to them. "What did you need?"
IQ gave a grunt, before answering. "Just my helmet, main weapon and scanner."
Tina merely gestured to the door at that point, flicking off the plug she had been using and switching out the lights as they stepped out, locking the door and then folding her arms as she leant on the wooden structure as Monika went into her own room. Tapping a finger onto the folded right arm with her left hand as she counted each second that passed, that was the only idle motion that the JTF2 operator made as she just stayed patient and awaited her friend. Which was not long, as the taller woman soon stepped out, flicking closed the lid of the scanner on her left forearm that she had obviously been fiddling with as she did so. The long barrel of a weapon poked out from where it was tucked under her right arm.
"Armoury?" Tina merely questioned.
"Yep." Monika confirmed as she flipped the helmet over in her hand and clipped on the last piece onto the steel protection construction - a headset addition with a microphone on one side and a receiving speaker on the other. With that, it was a simple matter of raising the black mask around her own neck to feel more comfortable both in public and with the helmet on as Monika then strapped the helmet onto her head. "Armoury."
THE ARMOURY.
It was the Frenchman's turn to be on armoury duties that day, and according to his comrade who had been on duty last week when everyone was on a week off, things had been very boring. But, there had been a never ending stream of equipment and ammunition allocation that morning as all of the experienced operators were sent onto missions along with a couple of the newer recruits. They were of course the priority, but on top of all of that was the surge in training requirements for said newer recruits involving blank round ammunition and dummy grenades.
Speaking of mission allocation, he was looking forward to the very last appointment, which upon consulting the register showed him that they had put in a requisition form for an entire crate of live rounds. Equal to eight hundred rounds of ammunition, which made the moustached man's eyebrow rise slightly. Three days worth of rations should have been followed by a request of an average of two hundred rounds of ammunition per person, not four times the amount required for just one weapon on a mission.
It all made sense, however, when the name of 'Monika Weiss' had been signed at the end of the requisition form, making his lips thin somewhat at the name of the most unpopular operator on the base. Personal grudges of the GIGN with her outbursts of anger against their champion Montagne in the ring aside, it was well known by people that regularly took armoury duties that the GSG9 operator was one of only two operators on the base (including the newer arrivals) that handled a light machine gun as a main weapon.
Their weight made them cumbersome, but their firepower could more than make up for that if handled correctly against the weapon type's known strong recoil and low accuracy.
A sudden activation of the white-tinted bulb above his head in the armoury cage made his eyes flicker to the bathing of light throughout the cage, before just as quickly flicking his gaze to the live CCTV footage of the armoury entrance. Sure enough, it was just who he had been expecting as the letters of 'POLIZEI' on a tactical vest took up half the screen as the tall blonde woman had stepped closer to the camera to activate the doorbell feature. Without further ado and wanting to get this particular requisition order over with quickly, the Frenchman's finger quickly tapped the 'enter' key on the keyboard of the computer before him to just activate the notification that had popped up on his screen.
Sure enough, the G8A1 accompanied its owner through the door. The long-barrelled weapon was the longest weapon that the armoury kept spare stock for barring the sniper rifles other operators utilised, but the drum magazine was more readily available. Fitting a standard issue drum magazine that took commonplace 5.56mm NATO ammunition, it was a suppressive weapon meant purely for lockdown scenarios or more long-distance engagements. Rook could only guess that the obviously customised pistols hanging in the holsters on the operator was what she used for closer-distance or more accurate engagements.
"Weiss." The Frenchman greeted gruffly, eyeing the new arrival to the armoury shrewdly.
"Rook." Monika replied just as coldly, not even saying his name and replying with his codename instead.
Looking back to the requisition sheet for a moment, he shook his head as he brought up a metal box filled with ammunition rounds, letting go of the handle atop the box to let it thud onto the wooden workbench in front of him. "Your request for eight hundred rounds was approved." He informed her gruffly. "You'll find the corresponding ammunition for both of the listed handguns in there, and here is a box of shotgun shells." He added almost as an afterthought as his right hand merely reached up to a shelf on his right and placed a very small carboard box that fit in his hand onto the table.
Tina looked at the box then, given that she was the only one carrying a shotgun, before looking unimpressed to the armoury quartermaster for the morning. "That has fifty rounds in it?" She asked.
Frost's unimpressed gaze was met with a look of boredom as Rook responded. "It sure does." He stated, before then rattling the box in his hand to reveal how no sound emanated from it at all. "I take boxes like these, empty them and then completely refill them with double their stated capacity to the extent that you can't even hear it."
Merely nodding to the man, she slid the box closer to herself before pausing as a thought occurred to her. "I need spare parts for my shotgun." She announced in a level tone, making the shrewd eyes of the French operator focus on her at the complete topic change away from ammunition. "The parts on my own are getting old."
A second passed as the man on-duty in the armoury cage gave that some thought, before holding out a hand through the gap in the bars that separated them. "Let me take a look, and I'll see what we have in stock, whether the official brand or compatible." He responded. Frost merely acquiesced as she took her shotgun, and placed the barrel of it in the man's hand, which he took right back into the cage.
Rook merely looked down to the weapon that had been handed to him, his eyes roving over the weapon as he eyed its make and other attributes, before shaking his head. "Not even the new Italian recruits are using Benelli shotguns. We don't have spare parts for such any such weapon in stock, nor we will order them just for one operator. Feel free to get ammunition for it or put down payment yourself for ordering stock, but I recommend you get another weapon." Rook finalised, his experience of often being lumped on duty to the armoury shining through. "Something we would have in stock."
Frost held her gaze with the bored Frenchman for a few seconds, before just nodding slowly. She said nothing as she merely took back her weapon and snagged the box of shotgun rounds accompanying it, the box disappearing out of sight as she slung the weapon on her back. "I'll consider it when we get back." She merely stated.
The Frenchman merely gave a dismissive gesture, showing his disinterest in the situation as he then unlocked the armoury door again to the sound of the buzzer with a simple push of a button on the keyboard; hence missing Monika's narrowed glare at the rudeness displayed to her friend. Nonetheless, nothing more was said as they walked out and the man simply went back to what he'd been doing beforehand.
OUTDOOR TARMAC.
Tina took in a breath of the air, and almost tasted it. It was a trait one picked up when working in a rural environment like that of the Canadian countryside she'd essentially been raised in, and then done various military work in. The rural environment of the large countryside had a similarity across it for sure, being predominantly cold, but there was also sheer variety as well. From arid environments within British Columbia to combined, mixed environments of mountainsides populated with forests.
The British air wasn't bad. A lot more urban taint to it, of course, but there was also an ever-present seaside sense to it in the capital and the few places she'd visited which weren't too far from the coast on the island nation.
Brown eyes traversed to the side, against the side of the hanger where the helicopter they were going to board had rested just thirty minutes previously, the machine which she was now stood besides on the yellow lines of the painted tarmac. Monika was fumbling about with her equipment, organising it and making it good to use for the very next day when the operation would begin. Tina would be doing the exact same thing if it wasn't for the fact that she knew her equipment was organised - she checked daily. Evidently, her friend only checked when it was needed.
Not that there was much wrong with that approach. They had time, but Tina just didn't much like inefficiency.
Turning to the pilot of the helicopter who was standing besides the machine with a checklist on a clipboard, she spoke up. "Can we board?" She questioned in a bored tone.
The man looked up from his clipboard, before giving a thumbs up. "Aye, she's good to go." He responded. "Fuelled up, and ready. We leave in fifteen minutes, I hope your friend will be ready by then." Responding to that statement with a nod, the Canadian slammed open the door of the helicopter's passenger cabin area.
Tina slung her backpack onto a chair away from the window, shoving the shotgun behind it so that the bag held it in place against the white wall of the helicopter as she claimed the seat beside the window. It was evidently a helicopter built for the speedy transport of the average person, whether for the businessman or tourist, and so took on an average appearance that was still pleasing to the eye. A satisfying blend of reflective white and red on the seats, there was a good level of comfort that would only begin to wear out after more than a few hours - and given how they were only crossing the English channel and a bit of the Benelux countryside before reaching West Germany, they'd be there before that happened. So, she merely clipped on her harness in the seat and pulled out a book from her backpack.
Frost paused in the finishing of her first resumed page in the book as she lowered it to be able to see her friend clamber into the helicopter, having now finished her organisation. Given how Monika was having to stoop low as her taller stature was giving her trouble in the low cabin of the helicopter combined with having to lug along a light machine gun as well as the backpack that was much heavier with the reams of ammunition within it, she had to slow in her movements to be able to move with some efficiency.
Annoyed blue eyes met amused brown eyes as IQ saw that her friend was taking entertainment from her slight struggles. "Oh, shut up." The blonde woman huffed, making Frost further tilt her head in amusement - before widening her eyes in slight shock as Monika turned the tables on her. Thrusting the LMG into the other woman's arms, making her friend drop her book to take the heavy weapon in both hands that she had wielded so well in one, finally being able to take her much heavier bag with both hands and move it into position onto a helicopter seat. Firmly strapping it down with the harness attached to the seat, she was free to then drop down into the neighbouring seat directly opposite Tina in the cabin with a sigh.
"Long day already?" Frost questioned, an unreadable expression with her mask on, versus Monika who was much easier to read despite having a mask on as well.
"Oh, it has barely begun." IQ answered, finding more energy now that everything had been done on her part until they got to their destination. Quirking an eyebrow, Tina merely made an agreeing motion - she may not have been on such missions that Team Rainbow employed where operators were given more jurisdictional freedom, but she had an inkling. Unlike normal military units who would obey orders, she had served in the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre unit which operated more independently than that due to the necessity of the role.
She didn't make a sound as she just handed the LMG back to the blonde woman, who gave an eye-smile as the Canadian then went back to her book.
"So, how long do you reckon it will take for us to get there?" Tina questioned suddenly after a few minutes, drawing Monika's attention away from the window to look at her.
She gave a hum of thought, before then shrugging, the helmet visibly raised slightly as her shoulders straightened from their slouched posture. "I don't know." She simply responded.
A short chuckle from Frost had hr attention remain on her friend, as Frost began talking. "If we account for a steady speed of 150 miles an hour in good conditions over a distance of roughly 380 miles, as well as a little time thrown in for delays; probably about two hours and forty minutes."
The Canadian had to look up from her book to properly take in the unimpressed expression being forecasted from the blue eyes of her friend, making her chuckle again. "If you knew." IQ stated in deliberately dry tone. "Why did you even bother asking?"
Without missing a beat, Tina seized the opportunity given by that question. "Because you're a German." She stated in just as dry a tone back, without blinking to better accentuate her message. "And we're going to Germany."
It seemed that Monika was truly unimpressed now, instead of being sarcastic if the half-lidded gaze she gave her friend was anything to go by. "Shut up." She merely repeated herself.
The amused eyes on her friend soon went back to their book as the engines of the helicopter began to be engaged, signalling the start of their flight. However, it was not long after taking off into the sky that Tina let her book lower a bit to see her friend just staring out of the window. Even if Monika had no idea of how long it would really take, it would be common sense that it would at least take a couple of hours - and so Frost wondered if her friend really meant to spend that long brooding at the window.
It seemed as if her analytic gaze at IQ had caught her attention though, as the blonde woman turned her head to properly look at Frost. "What are you reading, anyway?" She inquired.
Tina gave a hum as she twirled the book in her hand around to view the title of it, before showing Monika it. "It's just a book on mechanical trapping. There's nothing new to me in here, of course - in fact, I've read it before." She stated in a matter-of-fact voice. "I just want to go over a few points and gather a few ideas on how I can improve the welcome mat."
Looking intrigued, Monika continued with the subject. "Do you read often?"
A nod was sent her way in response. "Yes." Tina stated as she flipped the page in the book, managing to look as if she was both reading and paying attention to her friend at the same time. "Literature is one of my favourite pastimes. It was one of the only things to partake in at the orphanage I was raised in."
Monika seemed a bit startled at the sudden revelation in her friend's history. "Orphanage?"
This time, Frost was solidly looking only at her book. "Yes." Was all she said.
IQ got the message, as she switched topics. "So, do you want to tell me how you can improve your welcome mat? I'm kind of stumped as to what more you can add to a trap like that without taking away from it's simplicity." Shifting the weapon in her hands to be more comfortable in the space between her legs.
That got Tina to lower her book, an interested look on her face as the subject choice shifted to one she was definitely intrigued in. "Well, for one thing, I'm trying to make them smaller, but contain approximately 10% more power."
"You've trapped that many things in your mats that you can now use statistics with them?" Monika questioned, slightly impressed with such a concept.
"Yes." Frost nodded her head. "There is plenty of animals in the Canadian countryside, I perfected my hunting, trapping and other such skills there. The thing about the current welcome mats is, that they only break through the bone 42% of the time. Only a bit more power is needed, a very achievable goal for a trap that I want to get smaller but still hold all of its simplicity."
The talk continued, and before the two women knew it, the journey had passed.
COLOGNE, GERMANY.
Tina merely awaited patiently with arms crossed to the side of the 'Polizei' van, watching on as her friend engaged with the local authorities in the fluent tongue she'd been born in. It was obviously a last briefing session on top of all of the others Monika had attended since they had arrived yesterday, immediately being shown into the gathering station for the armed police forces. That was partly the reason why they were here - most governments would be unwilling to send in the military into one of their own cities, and so they'd arrived to help form a special forces attachment to the police operation.
IQ had informed her of the situation already, when they had retired to their temporary dorm rooms after being the only person between the two of them who could understand the language; and as far as Frost knew now, the blonde woman was now directing the operation. Having been granted command of the operation, she could see Monika pointing to a map rolled out on a table, and could only surmise she was ordering exactly where she wanted the police to go.
Closing her eyes, she just waited.
"How did it go?" Tina questioned despite her senses not being fully alert in her resting state, instead relying on the almost sixth sense she'd developed over her years of expertise.
"It went alright." Monika's voice informed her.
A grunt escaped Frost as she made her inquiry more specific. "What's the plan then?"
IQ looked to her friend with a neutral gaze, unsure of what to expect as she dropped a bomb shell onto her. "We're going in alone." She announced. "I ordered the police to surround the building to ensure that nobody fled the scene whilst we go in to clear it."
Tina's eyes slowly opened, before looking back to Monika with only an analytical look in them. "That is rather bold of you." She mused aloud. "How'd you manage that?"
"It took some convincing." IQ stated, her accent shining through for a moment. "They weren't keen on it, but these gang members are notorious for fleeing when they know they can't win. We need a strong perimeter. Besides, we have the expertise we need."
Frost's face revealed nothing as she just asked again. "So, just us?"
A nod came from Monika as she confirmed that. "Just us."
COLOLGNE, WEST SIDE.
Silence reigned as IQ gazed to the building in question with a set of binoculars, contemplating the operation she'd helped flesh out only five minutes to go. Outside observation of the residential property confirmed it to be just like any other on the street - no security cameras to help blend in, or obvious items to attract attention. Except for the sighting of a wanted criminal entering the building by a neighbour, leading to the eventual operation occurring now a week later.
The reason they were so quiet was because they had managed to park three police vans round a back road that intersected the main road the property sat on, and wanted to remain out of sight right up until the last moment. Lowering the binoculars, Monika looked to Tina who was merely stood next to her, awaiting her call to start it all.
"Ready?" She simply questioned.
Frost just gave a nod, as she took the shotgun off of her back and readied it to the extent that all she had to do was take the safety off, before looking to IQ. "Ready." She responded.
With that, the two of them climbed into a silver car, if only to keep up pretences for half a minute more as it was driven round the corner and left where it sidled right up to the house they were going for - before Monika seized the initiative. Throwing open the car door and jumping out, she sprinted full out across the front garden of the property before flattening herself against the wall besides the front door. Tina was just a split second behind her, as she held her shotgun aloft at the door as the GSG9 operator pulled out a breaching charge. A foldable device with strips of explosive lining the inside of it on a sticky backing which enabled it to be stuck to the front door of the property, Monika then stepped back and signalled the awaiting police at Tina's nod.
A sudden blare of sirens filled the street, as the three armoured police vans roared around the corner with activated emergency lights on, with two quickly surrounding the two-storey house from the front and back of it as the other parked in the middle of the street. Figures in black burst out the doors of the three armoured vans, 'POLIZEI' stamped in bold all over their uniforms and the vans as over thirty armed police quickly sealed off the entire area in just twenty seconds.
A couple of cars had to brake sharply at the sudden emergence of the authorities onto the street, as police figures carrying automatic weaponry quickly placed cones and barriers down across the street as their comrades also surrounded the house. Given that it was a detached property, it was now firmly swarmed on all sides - as one police officer stepped forward with a megaphone and began barking out in aggressive German into the microphone, demanding for the occupants in the house to surrender.
Gunfire suddenly erupted from one of the windows as a gang member appeared in one and opened fire with a pistol upon the police officer with the megaphone, making the police flinch and quickly dive behind the cover of a brick wall. A couple of pedestrians in the street who had yet to be cleared from it by the police screamed out by the sudden burst of loud, ringing shots and muzzle flashes, especially when the waiting police at the walls of the property returned fire with their automatic rifles.
It appeared the gang member who had opened fire upon the police wasn't too bright, as three obvious bullet wounds slammed into their torso, making them stagger, before tipping straight forward out the window with a yell, where they splattered onto the front drive. A bark of German orders had several police figures reload their weapons, as Monika received the signal she'd been waiting for.
A simple squeeze of the trigger device in her hands had the front door, reinforced or not with sheets of metal, blown inwards by the force of several strands of explosive detonated and projected firmly towards the surface it was stuck on. Rounding the corner right away to take advantage of what was likely a panicking enemy, the blonde operator flicked the safety off of her LMG and shouted out an order. "SURRENDER!" She shouted out in German.
However, in the waiting hallway were three criminals who had been running about, suddenly halted and disoriented by the explosive blast that had blown the door in, that made the mistake of reaching for pistols. Having become experienced with the tell-tale signs of an enemy caught off-guard that still sought to fight, IQ opened fire immediately, gunning down two of the criminals from the centre and left as Frost behind her stepped forth and blasted down the criminal on the right with a single, accurate shot from the Super 90 she was carrying.
"There's two sets of stairs in this house, trap this one and we'll go up the other one, clearing the ground floor as we go." Monika immediately spoke up as she herself set down a claymore explosive device just on the third step of the stairs in the hallway, a semi-round mine that was set off when a bit of movement broke the continuous line of sight of the infra-red projections that acted as tripwires.
"Right." Tina simply complied as a couple of the welcome mats appeared in her hands, already bowing down to set one up right at the base of the stairs as the other one was thrown to be set up in a darkened area of the central hallway that the JTF2 operator had spotted. As she did that, Monika kept a watch out as it seemed that there were multiple moving enemies upstairs that had clearly heard the commotion downstairs, and a five round burst from the machine gun she carried into the floorboards of the upstairs hallway convinced them to refrain from moving down.
A sudden movement into the living room on the right of the hallway had IQ swing the barrel of the portable machine gun around, before opening fire right away on those that had dashed into the room. One gang member screamed out in agony as the remaining enemy that had sprinted in dived for cover, before thrusting their own rifle up above the sofa and squeezing the trigger. It was inaccurate to the extreme, but the two operators that had infiltrated the gang house were still forced to take cover as the sheer range the bullets swept over was still dangerous. As they did so, the sounds of footsteps was also audible as more armed criminals entered the living room in an obvious attempt to repel the infiltration of the property.
Reaching into her webbing, Frost held up a smoke grenade canister for IQ to view, who nodded back as she held up a fragmentation grenade. Pulling out the pins on both contraptions, Tina lobbed her canister in first as only a second later a burst of thick, choking smoke blanketed the entire room in a haze of white. A couple of shots were fired from Frost's MK1 sidearm pistol in the rough direction of the other doorway in the living room to deter anyone from leaving the room, before throwing herself back behind the wall as Monika threw the grenade into the room.
There was a brief, couple of seconds of silence as Tina's shots had covered up the bounce of the grenade into the smoke-filled room in which the criminals lay, obviously awaiting it to clear or their opponents to enter - before the hazy white erupted orange. Shards of metal detonated everywhere, cutting down five men and women alike as the casing was turned into a volatile mix of heat, ringing shockwaves and fragmentation shards from the detonation of the gunpowder within.
It was Tina who moved first as the smoke cleared, crouching down and almost rolling into the room as she held her shotgun ready, seeking to surprise anyone remaining in the room, but only had to fire it once as another enemy burst in to seek advantage of the chaos too, but was gunned down as Frost had moved quicker. Moving up into a crouch, she listened out for any further noise, but heard none as instead she returned her head slightly to see Monika join her in the living room, treading silently as she still held her weapon ready.
IQ made a forward motioning gesture with two fingers to which Frost nodded, both moving forwards to the other doorway through which their enemies had emerged, as Tina continued to crouch against the doorway and just quietly placed down a drone. A three wheeled device that Team Rainbow had created for a compact, mobile scanning tool that could be easily clutched with just one hand, she quickly pulled out her own mobile phone.
A quiet whir of motors on greased axels sounded out as they moved forth past the doorway, which revealed a storage room filled with filing cabinets, boxes and a desk. It was completely empty, even to the infra-red lens built into the drone, and so Tina continued to command the device to drive left into a corridor that had opened up from the storage room.
Heat momentarily flared in the atmosphere of the room as a blast rang out, an orange glow licking at the corner of her perspective vision as Frost immediately dropped the mobile device and went to her shotgun. IQ had been faster than her as she was already prepared, the G8A1 having been whipped up to point back into the hallway they'd breached the house into. However, after a few moments, she lowered the gun slightly and make an axing motion across her neck to Tina to signal that the hallway was clear, leading the JTF2 operator to have a good assumption as to what happened. The claymore had been triggered, and prevented the flanking manoeuvre from upstairs.
Taking up her phone again, she merely took a second to look at the image the camera on the drone was projecting on her device, before turning it around to let her friend look at the screen from her new position against the other wall. The screen showed nought but an empty corridor, and therein lay the problem - enemies didn't just leave such a chokepoint undefended.
Monika's eyes narrowed, before holding up her fist, twirled her finger before pointing to herself silently - only making Tina nod to her as she had signalled her intention to take point. It seemed her friend had anticipated her next course of action when she looked completely unsurprised to her slowly - but more quietly - raising the lid of the scanner on her arm, and now gripping her modified heavy-calibre pistol in her right hand. Taking a second to lock eyes with Tina, she then swept her arm with the scanner on to face the hallway - and getting a much clearer idea of the situation as phones and other electronics began to light up.
Two consecutive shots from the P12 exploded within the confined corridor as IQ shot straight through the wall, right into the mobile device being carried by one of the gangsters and then another shot fifty centimetres above that one for an accurate attempt at a more vital area of the human body. Seeing that was the only enemy on her left, she hurled herself round the wall to quickly reveal the enemies on her right with her scanner, picking up two more electrical signals of phones through the right wall as she fired twice more. Having honed this strategy throughout the now thirteen months she'd been a part of Team Rainbow, Monika finished clearing the enemies who were attempting an ambush on them as the gun barked out twice more, still nailing the phone even as they began to move in reaction.
A shotgun blast from behind her had her whirl around, before nodding gratefully to Tina who pumped the shotgun she was carrying to reload it after having dispensed of another enemy partaking in the flanking ambush in the one spot she hadn't looked - behind her. But, that was only to be expected as house clearing was not a solo duty - at least one other person was always required to watch her back, just as Frost had done right there and then.
Frost didn't return her gesture as she instead fluidly reached up to her back, and tugged out one of the welcome mats nestled against her webbing. It was the practiced work of only five seconds to unfold it onto the floor of the corridor, and then slot a screwdriver into a part of the mechanism and undid the safety latch within it to prime the entire contraption.
"Welcome mat deployed." She spoke softly, so softly that Monika was unsure if she said it aloud to make sure that she was aware of its existence there. She was definitely addressed, however, as Tina looked back with a serious expression above her mask. "Don't go back now."
IQ merely nodded in response, taking her attention away from her friend now that she'd seen what she was doing. "I wasn't planning on it." She spoke out softly too, muffled somewhat by the mask over her own face as her scanner swept upwards this time - to reveal a mobile phone directly above them. Not trusting the limited amounts of ammunition left in the chamber of her pistol, it was the work of just a moment to holster it and draw the LMG off of her back by the shoulder strap. Narrowing her eyes in concentration, she pointed the muzzle of the gun directly at the spot the phone was moving about in with a single hand, confirming that the device upstairs was being carried by a person - before resting her finger against the trigger guard.
Frost merely inserted fresh ear foam plugs into her ears that most soldiers were given just as IQ squeezed the trigger - an obvious practiced motion as she only held it in place but for a second. Twice more she pulled back the trigger for only a second of activating the mechanism in the weapon in order to maintain the balance of the weapon in her hand stabilised against her right shoulder - meaning that three times a thunderous roar of many bullets being fired at in just the span of five seconds ripped through the entire house. The gun fell silent as Monika continued looking upward, eyes occasionally darting to the scanner held aloft as the LMG was lowered to save it becoming a strain on her right arm.
The smell of cordite was heavy in the air, even through the mask as Monika realised she'd got her target as a singular splash of crimson dripped down onto her helmet through one of the bullet holes torn through the wooden floorboards. Looking back down with only an examining gaze, she saw that Tina had taken to the role of checking the rooms as looked away from the room on the right.
"Both rooms clear." She merely stated, getting a nod from IQ as she merely readjusted her grip on the LMG with both hands this time, scanner remaining open as she pointed it roughly forward, darting her eyes to it occasionally as it pulsated on her wrist with each electronic it passed. Moving forward, there was only way to go - to the end of the corridor and upwards, at the stairs that could be seen just to the right of the end of the corridor. A doorway on the left revealed the hallway they'd entered the house from, as a quick look into it showed that no criminals had yet been caught in Frost's welcome mats. They'd been obviously deterred by the presence of traps that had been laid down there.
The stairs themselves were two-fold - wooden steps that led downward on the right to a basement, and some on the left which led upward. Stepping forth slowly, Monika merely set down another claymore against the top of the steps leading to the basement and flicked it on, before looking to Tina.
"You wait here, on the stairs leading up." She ordered in a quiet voice. "I'm going through the window, and will make the first move. Await my signal."
"Got you." Tina merely responded in affirmation without looking to her, as she finished setting up her second to last welcome mat in the space between both levels of stairs, but far enough away from the claymore. Then, she merely stooped low as she made her way up the first flight of stairs, stopping only before the top of her head crested the landing of the stairs where she would then be put into view, propping her shotgun against a bannister in readiness as in the corner of her eye she saw Monika move.
IQ pushed herself out through a particularly wide window onto the ground outside, eyeing the still waiting line of police against the brick wall of the property before turning her neck to view the roof of the house. It was indeed suitable for what she had in mind, as she reached round to the back of her tactical vest and withdrew a spool of thin rope in her hand, complete with an attachment of a grappling hook to it. It was firmly fastened to the back of the bulletproof backing of her vest for rigidity and less strain on her body, which she fed through a clip on the front before giving the rope momentum in her hand. At the apex of a swing, she released it accurately to glide upwards fast through the air, before it dropped and snagged against a metal reinforcement section of the roof she' aimed for.
It was then a matter of hauling herself up the rope to the top window of the stairs where she could see the entire corridor which was built overlooking the downstairs hallway with only three rooms on the right, only one doorway accessible to the them through a closed door on the right and a large open entryway further down. Sliding the position of the clip attachment to the rope right so she could remain stationary where she was without having to hold the rope, she flicked back open the scanner as she remained just out of sight of the window.
IQ didn't have to wait long. The spectre scanner vibrated minutely as a mobile phone quickly passed into view of it as a gang member was now checking the stairs from what she could assume, and took it as her cue. Rounding the last section of wall to fully be able to view the hallway, the barrel of the machine gun had just crested it too to be pointed at the glass now, as she aligned it directly with the figure her scanner had picked up - whose eyes barely began to widen as she pulled the trigger.
Bullet fire roared out as Monika expended the entire magazine she had within the chamber of the LMG. The criminal in front of her was immediately downed, as another gunman watching the landing overlooking the downstairs hallway was also caught in the flak of bullets coming from the window. Turning the stream of controlled bullet bursts further to the right to aim further down the hallway and into the room at the end then, she was successful in bunching the enemy into the end room and making them seek cover as the firing pin of the weapon she was utilising slammed down on empty.
Monika quickly propelled herself right with a forceful push of her feet against the brick wall she was scaling, in time to get out of sight of the window and away from the storm of bullets that went through the open window. Chips of brick and mortar flew from where it impacted into the wall, right as Monika pushed the radio attachment to her helmet closer to her face to hear better against the suppressive fire being laid down against the window to stop her from re-emerging into it.
"Tina." She merely called into the radio, knowing she'd have better success now from her more angled position in relation to the enemy.
"Affirmative." Crackled back into her ear, as only a second more of loud gunfire passed through the window in a now recognisably, slow and controlled manner of sustained suppressive fire. Which is just what she wanted - as untrained gunmen often forgot that they shouldn't focus on just one target on the battlefield.
Frost only utilised a second more to peek slowly above the stairs to see where the suppression tactics were being laid down from, as the MK1 made its way into her hands, now needing its more accurate edge than the shotgun now on her back. Balancing it against her left forearm to stabilise it and tilting her head left to stare down the sights of the pistol as a person of right eye dominance, she was now fully prepared as she crested only one more step.
The flash going off right in front of her face didn't deter her as her forearm kept the weapon stable and counteracted the recoil, having shot the head of one gunman and already aligning it with the torso of another. The retort of the weapon once more slammed against her hand as she kept it forcibly pressed to the left arm, the bark of another gunshot downing another enemy behind only a hiding place of a flimsy table. Unfortunately, the time it took to down two gangsters had given the other two gunmen time to get behind cover in the room down the end of the hallway they were all shooting down - their own suppression tactics turned against them as they came under fire from two directions now.
"Monika." The radio crackled into the German's ear this time, who said nothing as she now flicked the safety lever off of the grenade she was carrying, and holding it in her hand for three seconds as she slowly moved back to the window. It took a second to cross the distance it was hurled right into the room at the end of the corridor, and then exploded in the next.
Frost had ducked low to the ground, having actually gone back down the stairs to avoid the blast of the grenade only twelve metres away, a momentary flash of orange and ear-splitting burst that consumed the room it had been thrown into and some of the hallway. "Coming from the left!" She shouted into the radio in case IQ was still covering the entirety of the hallway with the barrel of her LMG, as her warning proved well as she hurled herself over the stairs. Having already got the shotgun into both hands, she sprinted the distance from the stairs to the closed door on the right rather than the end of the hallway, combat boot crashing into the door to breach it and take advantage of the chaos sown by the grenade.
Four more bullets erupted in the confined space as the close quarters operative utilised her expertise well in a methodical, quick sweep of the room under cover of the disorienting abilities of the grenade. Quickly reloading the weapon and cocking it with but a flick of her wrist, she crouched behind a piece of cover to the next room, peeking out just enough to view the situation and send two bullets at an approximation of where a survivor of the grenade was also crouched.
It fast turned into a shootout between the rooms as Frost ducked further down as three bullets sailed over her piece of cover, to which she responded with a couple of shots back over the top. Her shotgun would do her no good here, being too inaccurate and whilst having good amounts of power behind it, the penetration power behind it was only good for very short range and would not get the enemies in the next room.
Hearing IQ now come in behind her, she didn't even look as she instead pointed to the second dividing wall between the large open space of the two rooms, and then dropping the primed smoke grenade in her hands to the floor. The variety of smoke in the second canister only lasted twenty seconds due to how viscous the smoke was, but that made it all the better for obscuring the criminal's views of Monika as the GSG9 operator threw herself across the distance to the other piece of cover.
As soon as the smoke cleared, having been very unwilling to move into a concentrated fire zone of the three or four gang members remaining, IQ instead just peeked out for only a split second and let loose a snap gunshot at one of the gangsters. The years of urban environment training and expertise paid off as it drilled into the skull of the opponent and sent them flopping back, IQ drawing herself back behind cover as two bouts gunfire riddled the doorway post she'd just peeked from. Two criminals left then.
Tina cursed as the pistol ran out of ammunition, having been exactly afraid of this scenario when she first started using it in the shootout before Monika arrived. It was no wonder the German police had called for military special forces help, as the hideout truly was a bigger challenge than even the risk factor in the briefing papers had outlined. There was certainly much more gang members here than had been predicted.
"Tina!" Came a shout from her left making the masked woman look to Monika from where they were both crouched against the barricades behind the bullet storms. "8 rounds! Make it count!" Was all she heard as the GSG9 operator made a powerful underarm swing to send one of the P12 pistols she was carrying sliding right across the floor to Tina's side of the corridor. Picking it up and immediately cocking the weapon, Tina's masked expression merely nodded to her friend in thanks before re-engaging the enemy.
Bullets continued to be exchanged between mostly Monika and the two gang members remaining, as the GSG9 operator had more ammunition remaining than her counterpart. Tina had expended a couple of shots over the barricade between lulls in the firing of bullets, coming close to nailing one of them, but mostly waited for good opportunities.
A sudden movement by IQ had one of the criminals take a risky move to try and seize the initiative, the blonde woman suddenly bending low and sending something else thrown across the floor. One of the gang members sudden ducked above cover as they saw her do that, pistol held in both hands as they fired some close shots at the doorway post - before being forced back into cover as Frost fired three shots exactly where their head had been. Drawing the item closer to her with a foot, Tina saw it was a breaching charge.
Nothing more needed to be said as Monika switched back to her G8A1 and began laying suppressive fire down against the two remaining criminals, neither of the two operators feeling like rushing the exposed fire zone without support such as flashbangs or other game-changing devices. So, Frost merely back-tracked into the hallway, and stuck down the breaching charge onto the wall.
Frost detonated the breaching charge against the wall of the room, allowing a second for the blast to clear before turning to point her shotgun fully into the now exposed breach entrance into the room. One of the criminals, closer to the blast zone, had been hurtled against the cover they were crouched behind by the force with their weapon thrown clear - as the other turned to face her. It was an act of stupidity born in desperation - as Tina proved by firing a shotgun shell point blank into the torso of the woman who had begun to raise the muzzle of her rifle, and then quickly traversing the weapon to the other criminal. They, however, seemed to be in no mood for any more fighting as they raised their hands.
The shotgun continued to point at the lone criminal remaining, Tina not understanding any of the outpouring foreign language from the woman at all but nonetheless stayed her hand as the universal (but trembling) gesture of surrender was enacted before her. She didn't need to make herself heard, however, as Monika burst into the room then, the barrel of the machine gun she was carrying already aligned with the gangster.
"DOWN ON THE GROUND!" Monika roared out in German. "Hands behind your head, kneel! MOVE!"
The criminal hastily complied, at once dropping to their knees on the floor and putting their hands behind their head, before IQ darted forth - drawing out a pair of handcuffs with one hands as Frost lowered her shotgun to keep it trained on the person before them at all times. Slamming the metal restraints around the wrists of the criminal and binding it tight, Monika moved them to a better position as Tina moved the shotgun in her hands to now point away from her fellow operator, but still held ready in case of further action.
A brief exchange of German occurred behind her as she crouched down to watch the entrances to the room behind one of the doorways, listening avidly for anything else besides the gruff, one-sided demands taking place. Leaving it to some time, she started using the drone she'd left down However, nothing else moved as IQ got her attention, making her move her head away from peeking just round the corner to the narrow slice of hallway she had kept in her perspective vision as well as the screen of her phone.
"According to the prisoner, there's only one more gang member remaining besides those that were on the ground and first floor. Considering we've taken them all out on these levels, all that remains is one more if they're to be believed." Monika informed her in a low level voice, almost whispering it from where they crouched together. "In the basement, but they could've moved and avoided our traps. They could be anywhere in the house."
However, her words were stopped there as Frost held up a single finger, before turning the phone screen towards IQ and speaking in the same volume as her friend had. "I've droned the entire house, and I would declare it clear. The basement is certainly clear, and nothing else is up here or we'd hear it, not that I haven't droned it either. But the only thing moving on the ground floor is him."
The screen was turned towards Monika, who watched for a second before giving a nod. "Let's move." She ordered with a bolstered confidence from what she'd seen, rising up and seeking to tug along the prisoner with her. However, that was cut short as Tina stopped her, before slamming the butt of the shotgun she was carrying full-force into the skull of the prisoner, sending them face first to the floor, unconscious.
"Tina!" IQ let out with a gasp, but her friend just snorted.
"She shouldn't have chosen to be a terrorist, I don't much care for the prisoner regulations." Frost informed her with a shrug, before moving off. "Now, come on, we've already shot most of them anyway. Let's go see to this last one, let the police take care of that one."
By the time Monika had seen to it that the prisoner was stable and at least breathing right, Tina was already downstairs and seeing where the last remaining gang member had been caught - in one of her traps. The man caught in the welcome mat was writhing in agony upon the metal staked teeth that had burrowed deep into his leg and refused to let go. Tina reflected upon how Monika might be the only person she knew that could get it to let go if she put her mind to it, barring all conscious thoughts of panic, pain and then deeply inflicted wounds if you made it let go. No amount of prying away at the two prongs would force them open, as the force in the mechanism had been designed to surpass most human's physical capabilities, and all the gang member was doing know was making the copious amounts of blood spurt out at a faster rate from between the metal teeth.
That was how Monika found Tina. Crouched down besides the writhing man caught literally like a rat in a trap and just watching for a few moments, before reaching into her combat boot and pulling out a small, steel case from within it. In a sleight of hand, she twirled it around the fingers of her right hand as it sprang open in the action, revealing a three inch long blade that she then gripped steadily. It was pushed hard against the skin of the neck so it didn't move with the agonised man, and it only took a downward twitch of the hand to slit the incredibly sharp blade into the skin. Leaving her enemy to die as she put the blade back into the boot, she instead set about reclaiming her welcome mat from the mangled limb it had become ensnared upon.
Frost tilted her head to look up to IQ with the analytical expression she'd been wearing throughout all of that to show that she knew the woman had been there all along. A regarding look of slightly narrowed eyes above a black mask that hid away all other emotion from her sight, something that made the blonde woman pause - before the eyes relaxed. "Are the police moving in yet?" Frost questioned as she stood up.
Monika looked to Tina for a second, looking considering for a second before just answering the question. "Not yet, I haven't made the call yet." She responded.
"Good." Tina answered to that. "I need to reclaim my welcome mats."
"Tina." Came a call from behind the Canadian, making her stop and look to her friend questioningly. "Are you alright."
There was a pause as Frost looked to IQ with a considering gaze, before just shrugging. "I'm fine." She stated. "Let's just get this mission over with."
BASEMENT.
"It was a drug manufacturing den." IQ surmised as she looked around the large, open room that was the basement.
Indeed, the entire room was a dim, haphazardly organised laboratory centre with desks put together in un-straightened lines and ingredients for the production of different types of drugs strewn across them. It was no wonder the house contained so many gang members, for the house was obviously a major processing and distribution point for their drug trafficking network. Even up against the left wall was a place where differing plants were being grown in the light coming from a window set high in the wall.
Frost was eyeing the information and administration desks in the room, having already determined the last section of the house to now be cleared as she just clutched her shotgun in a relaxed grip, looking to a map. It had several flagged points across West Germany and even two into the East, and it looked exactly to be what it signalled - the logistical supply train of one of, if not, Germany's biggest illegal drugs chain. Slinging the shotgun on her back with the shoulder strap and bringing out her own phone, she took several pictures of the information displayed to her. Even picking up a couple of sheets to see what they had to say - before pausing.
"What have you found?" Came a question from behind her, making Tina turn her head to look at Monika standing there now to join her in the section of the makeshift lab that the operation had been enacted for.
"Good news, and bad news." She replied to that as she turned back to one of the sheets she had been reading, before holding out one for her friend to take. "The good news is that the police have exactly what they hoped - information, locations, names, the lot. The bad news is that this gang were being made rich from being just the logistics and processing gang - they were only supplying varying groups. There's more drugs and poisons on here than we anticipated, including chemical gases, to groups up to and including terrorist factions such as this stated Nighthaven..."
Tina could only blink as the paper was torn from the grasp of her hand, some alarm coming to her as she turned round just to see Monika come into a state of small panic, eyes wide as they scanned the page for exactly what she had heard. Frost could not help but raise a slight eyebrow, wondering why the reference of either a name or the drugs would inspire such a state but nonetheless remained quiet. It only lasted a few seconds as IQ stopped hurriedly scanning the paper and obviously found what she was looking for, a glimmer of anger surfacing in her eyes before it was ruthlessly quashed and she looked to her friend with a professional expression.
Absolutely forced, as Tina could still read her like a book.
"Where are the chemical ingredients and gases?" Monika questioned, voice now fully containing her German accent in display of the emotions she was holding back, as Tina just looked to her for a second in thought. She didn't linger any longer though, as she turned to a nearby workbench and held up a vial of clear liquid to a lamp.
"All along these desks, from what I've seen." Frost answered her, tilting her head somewhat to get a good look at the chemical she was holding. "Whoever handles these will need fully protective gear, the stuff in here is lethal. It includes chlorine gases, as well as differing chemicals and bacteria. They really did handle a lot in here."
She clenched the vial as she turned to see her friend leave the section of desks, holding up a walkie talkie as she addressed Frost. "Leave the stuff alone then." IQ ordered. "I'll call the police in to deal with it."
"Right." Tina responded, but only pocketed the vial among a couple of others she'd read about as well before putting the shotgun into her hands and headed back into the administration side of things. She had more to read about before the German police packed it all away into evidence crates, as she heard the clatter of boots already overhead.